T-Muscle is a successful national-level competitor. While being in
his 40's, this has not slowed him down in both his ability to
improve and to help out others. He a great contributing member that
never has anything bad to say. I hope you appreciate the info he
has provided here!

My training has evolved over 22 years to an approach focusing on
more than just pushing your limits and hoping for the best. I want
to have the same luck the next 22 years as i have had the first 22
years. So - Longevity is added to the list of requirements needed
to satisfy my training appetite, so consistent training (as in non-
interrupted training cycle, no injuries and workable into your life
so constant attendance is attainable).

So low volume, high intensity work well for me. Warm up, stretching
between sets, and focus on the muscle being trained are must. Then
3 or 4 sets total sets per body part (1 or 2 exercises, mostly
basic benches, rows, squats,) and break up body in off-season in 5
days rotation and 10 weeks before a show move to a 3 day rotation.
But this 10 weeks a year. I do this before a show I have to keep
mental track of NOT over-training so my workouts now may have a
total 12 sets max! But even drop to a max total of 10 sets per
workout, over-training just ruins a body!

Current breakdown - low volume (intensity always present!)
Day 1 - quads and calves
Day 2 - chest and lats
Day 3 - hams and calves and biceps
Day 4 - triceps and shoulders
Day 5 - back and traps

protein usually never changes - 200-225 grams (any source)
Carbs for my metabolism are off the chart high in off-season like
500 grams to 700 grams
Fats are high also olive oil and flax oil and avocado then the fat
from red meat, which is the favorite for sure.

Contest Time

I drop my carbs to 300 grams of FRUIT only and protein stays around
250 max then I add oil to make up lost calories from less carbs.
This combo was not at all that taxing nor did i loose any strength.

Not only is REA some real eye-candy (sorry ladies), she is a great
contributing member. Rea is a successful national-level
fitness/figure competitor that was born in Canada. Unfortunately,
that presents challenges for her to compete at the national level
in the US. As she unselfishly shares info in posts, she provides a
wealth of info here!

Off Season:
6 days on one day off split, heavy one week, high volume the next
week, high reps following that (different exercises each week for
each body part) focusing on delts and hamstring development...train
hammys 2x per week. no more than 15 sets per body part. Cardio 25
minutes 5x a week.
Mon - quads
Tues - back/calves/rear delts
Wed - hams/abs
Thurs - chest/arms/calves
Fri - shoulders/abs
Sat - hams/abs/maybe rear delts if i feel like it

Pre-contest:
Changes every time I get ready for a show...trial and error LOL!!!
(but always increased cardio am b4 breakfast and pm.

My off season nutrition is based on 3500 kcal with a 33% split for
each macronutrient protein: carbs : fat so that is about 290g ofprotein, 290 g of carbs with about 128g of fat.

I find I get leaner on Tuna and a low fat diet instead of a low
carb diet like most people are going with these days.

I don't like Tuna but the years that I used chicken I was not as
lean.

I make sushi with tuna and fibrous vegetables and also tuna with
tomato sauces. I always cook the tuna first in a wok with
thermogenic/fat burning herbs &amp; spices like chillis to try to hide
the tuna flavour and to give me a fat burning boost.

I also have diet yogurt or cottage cheese in the evenings.

Cardio this season

My cardio work to this point has been zero. I have not been doing
it so far this season but I plan to start this week on cardio
hitting it fairly hard till a few days before contest time. I like
to do the cross trainer, treadmill on an incline, step mill and
stepper. Sometimes I walk outside just for a change of pace. This
season I have to hit the cardio hard because I have waited late to
start my preparations and I want to try to keep my calories higher.

This season I have been getting tips and help from Phil and BigA
for my new gains. Thanks. I have to wait to see the results and
post some pics!

Vander is a successful local-level bodybuilder. He is a very active
member of the board.

Vander has been featured in Flex, Muscle Mag, Ironman, and Planet
Muscle and just finished a cover shoot for Muscle MAG magazines. He
has also modeled for several different companies and his picture
has ended up in magazine advertisements.

FRIDAY- SPEED DAY FOR SQUAT
BOX SQUATS 6-10 sets of 2 reps with 50-60% of one rep max, one
minute rest
LEG CURLS 3sets of 10 reps
LOWER BACK MOVEMENT- same exercise as Mondays but lighter and more
reps
SHRUGS 3sets of 10-15 reps as heavy as you can handle it
BICEPS and ABS

* NUTRITION *

i eat pretty clean year round. i usually do low carb, around 300
grams when bulking, 150 when cutting-- and high pro, about 450 plus
grams. i followed John Berardis outline with great success, but had
to cut back on cals cause it was way too much for me. i only need
about 3300-3600 to gain. i am experimenting with more carbs and
less pro, and eating by feel instead of on a regimented schedule.
working well so far.
* 3 (or more) Q &amp; A's of anything you'd like (could be questions
you frequently get).

i eat alot of mixed veggies when buliking, about 1 cup 3-4 times a
day. typical meal is 6-8 oz chicken, 1 cup mixed veggies, and about
200 cals worth of fats (mixed nuts or macadamias usually) or carbs
( red potatos or brown rice).
Sample daily meal plan for bulking:
1) Breakfast has been a staple for a few years, 30-40 g chocolateprotein shake in water-- now with folgers instant coffee mixed in,
and 1-2 cups cooked oatmeal

2) in class so i have another 30-40 gram shake with coffee, 1
granny smith apple, and a tblspn natty PB

3) this is a solid meal, the chicken, veggies and as of now, 1- 1.5
cups rice

4) preworkout, same solid food meal, sometimes a shake instead of
chicken so im not too full to train

5) post workout, one half serving Prolab nLarge plus 1 scoop ONwhey. been doing this for a couple years and works well for me.

6) when i get hungry again about and hour later i eat another solid
meal with carbs, not w/ fats.

7) if i stay up late ill have a protein shake with 1 tbs PB or my
new favorite snack of 1.5 cups lowfat cottage cheese with 1 tbs
regular PB and 1 tbs calorie free jelly-ilke strawberry- mix it all
together and eat it. it looks gross but i love it. if im really
hungry or want to add easy extra cals i eat it with caremal rice
cakes! really good and lasts all thru the night!

Next competition is APF JR nationals in May. and qualify for wpc
Worlds in Helsenki, Finland to compete with Frknhuge. Want to
Qualify for the WPO professional powerlifting to play with the big
boys.

Best lifts are 865 squat, 575 bench, 700 DL.

I would love to get HE-UGE, but i have accepted that is not going
to happen. I have realized the importance of finding balance if
life and in this game. It is very demanding and requires a lot of
sacrifices. i have sacrificed a lot, maybe too much, needlessly.
Vander and Phil's posts have really made me re-assess my
priorities.

Gooey not only freely shares info and his knowledge on the board,
he's an great competitor and has competed at the national level. At
his recent bodybuilding contest, he not only won his class, he won
the overall.

We look forward to his contributions and here is some great
information that he is sharing:

* WORKOUT *
workouts 4-5 days a week (sometimes 6 if for contest prep if and or
I feel good) off-season and contest prep dont change much, just
more volume during contest prep till energy takes a dip those last
couple of weeks

day 1 - back
day 2 - chest
day 3 - arms
day 4 - off
day 5- shoulders
day 6 - back/arms

I train legs maybe once every couple of weeks I now put quads and
hams together and pick one heavy meat and potatoes lift and one
higher volume lift. I usually split the two but until I can bring
my upper body into a better proportion with my lower body I put
little emphasis on leg training. Back and arms are done twice a
week because are areas considered lagging and need more attention

questions I get
1. how often do I train calfs - never really once in a great while
during contest prep to keep them full

2. how much do I squat - never really do a full squat, leg press is
the meat and potatoes of my leg workout

3. am I going to be a professional BBer in the future - I dont
know, if is meant to be then it will happen, BBing if fun and a
great hobby but I dont want to cash in my life to be a professional
BBer. Its a risky lifestyle and u have to compromise much in your
life. I will do it for as long as life, my health, and my financial
status allow me too. I believe that we were all meant to be
something, I have always had a fascination with muscle but I dont
know if I will ever become one. But like I said before what is
meant to be will always find a way.

jerrywear is more than willing to help and contribute on the board.
He recently competed and not only won his class, he also won the
Open Overall! He is kind enough to provide the following info:

My training never changes exept cardio. i do train 6 times a week
off season, heavy and intense. closer to the show i do 7 training
days, some heavy and intense, up to last week to the show. then i
do hit all my body till thersday.

My nutrition off season is very close to clean, but i do eat 3
times a week only one meal with what ever i want. just to bring my
fats up.
normaly i am 350-450g of protein and 350-500g of carbs per day.
when i am starting to diet,i cut my carbs and fats and increaseprotein.

the questions i've been asked would be.

1st. how big are my arms.
and its very hard to answer, cuz i never mesure them.

2nd. how much can i bench.
and i never tried my max, but people know my working weight goes
from 100 to 500 lb.

3rd. do i do drugs and why i am so strong.
that one just craks me up so i just turn around and walk away.
- ------------------------------------------------------------

I have been competing for 3 years (6 contests, 3 Overall, 5 1st
Place, 1 national level), and have been training for 8 years.
Started out training for sports (college basketball....I'm only
5'7'' hehe) and had really good results and just fell in love with
it. I have two uncles that were successful at the state level, and
a great-uncle who was successful at the pro level (Ken Waller). I
started out weighing 145lbs and have been as heavy as 252lbs. My
offseason weight is around 245(FAT), will try to improve on that
this year, and contest weight is around 200-205.
My next plans are the 2006 USA's.

My training routine doesn't really change much from offseason to
precontest. What changes is the intensity and volume. For
precontest there is more volume, and less intensity...but not much!
I have trouble with my knees so I dont train quads as much as I'd
like. Traps never get trained, isolated anyway. This routine has
worked really well for me the past couple of years. You need to
find what works well for you and not what someone else is doing.

*Nutrition*

Oh, boy....I'm not too good at this, unless McDonalds, Pizza Hut,
and Jack in the Box count??

*Offseason*

I try to keep protein around 300g daily and carbs around 500+
daily. But this year I am going to go a little higher on theprotein and see how well that works. I normally eat alot of junk
and am going to try to stay cleaner this offseason. Proteins come
from eggwhites, ground sirloin, chicken, some fish. Carbs come
from oatmeal, white rice, beans, fast food..lol, and red potatoes.
I dont use much protein powder at all, very rarely, just whole food.

I usually do my own diet until about 3 weeks out and let 'someone'
take over that has been keeping an eye on me the whole time. Myprotein is usually 2.25 x's bodyweight, and carbs just depends on
where I'm at conditioning wise. Proteins consist of eggwhites,
ground sirloin, and turkey, maybe some fish. Carbs come from Oats,
red and sweet potatoes, broccolli, and other green veggies. Same
as offseason, not much protein powder, whole food.

I want to thank everyone on ProfessionalMuscle for the help and
support!!! This is the BEST bodybuilding board around, no bullshit
just good facts and info.

training:
I have three phases that I use throughout the year. I'll stay in
each one for about 3 months then switch. There's nothing scientific
to it, I just like to do it. I'll do a program similar to DC, then
I'll switch to something like what Dorian Yates did in his Olympia
video (one set all out after a few warmups). Recently I just
started adding a phase where I'll do high volume and low reps. So
throughout the year I'm using Time under Tension, negatives, rest
pause, low volume, and high volume. One thing that I noticed that
does work well for me is when I start my diet I like to use the
program that's similar to DC's style. I'll be losing fat but still
get stronger for the first 6 or 8 weeks of the diet. For all the
phases I train 2 on one off (for the most part).

Diet: Nothing too crazy here. isolate shake in the morning with
some pineapple juice (tastes good and makes other things taste
good... for the ladies ). Then an hour after that I'll start eating
normal meals. 8oz of some type of protein with some low GI carb and
some fats. I donâ€™t count calories. I try to ballpark it around 3000
when dieting and 4000 when bulking (sometimes that creeps up to
5000 when I get fluffy). Lately I've been eating lots of yams,
brown rice with pineapple mixed in (noticing a theme here?) and
apples for fruit. protein sources: beef, chicken, tuna (not often)
and cottage cheese. Secret weapon: shake with olive oil and oatmeal
blended. When cutting I cut down on the crap (eating out and cheat
days and fried foods) and I'll only cheat with simple sugars.

Questions that I get asked all the time:
1) What do you do for traps? DB shrugs, three sets heavy as
possible. Pull up, big squeeze with a pause, then I lower and get a
good stretch and let them hang. I do anywhere between 120-150s for
these.
2)What did I do for the Mangina? The Tuck Method. Self explanatory.
3)Why the hell do you eat all that crap? If it tastes bad, you know
its good for you. If your shake tastes good, there's probably lots
of sugar in it. If your dinners tastes good, there's probably a
better choice you could be making.
4)Dude, do you use the 'roids? Yeah, all of 'em. <rolls eyes>
5)Where did the name Mr Pickles come from? The Diet Dr Pepper
commericals "just as good as the original" The spoof from CHiPS was
CHiMPS. Jo-Jo and Mr Pickles (chimps on cop bikes) pull over Erik
Estrada and eat his bananas. Quality entertainment, just like my
sex life.
6)What do you do for calves? Nothing special, the same as you, high
reps and just do 'em slow. Thank my mommy for them.

pumpputnam (AKA Peter) is the NPC 2004 Collegiate Overall Winner
and recently placed in the top 5 at the 2005 IFBB North Americans.
He is a certified personal trainer and a specialist in performance
nutrition. He has appeared and been featured in Flex, Musclemag,
Ironman, and has a training video flimed in Gold's Venice that is
produced by Guy Grundy. He was the cover model for Jeff Foxworthy's
"The Big Funny" album. He is also a contributing writer for
Faith&amp;Fitness Magazine. For more info visit: www.peterputnam.com

I train using a volume/heavy duty approach. Basically, as much
weight as many times as I can. I am more concerned about falling in
between a certain range of reps than a precise number. The sequence
and order of exercises is also very important and this changes as
certain areas of my physique need to be address. In other words, as
my physique evolves so will my training. I typically only hit one
body part once a week. I love overlapping movements to finish off
my workouts. This next year I plan on incorporating more partial
movements for areas such as arms. My back will be broken up into
upper and lower training splits. I feel these are areas that I need
to switch up and begin to hit from various angles while adding in
extras workouts to them until I see how they progress. In general,
I like to rest following every second workout. I plan on studying
more other tops athletes training styles and see what they are
doing too.

* General Nutrition Outline -

Not much varies other than calories coming from fat and carbs.
Nutritional timing of meals is very important for recovery and
growth. I plan on staying a bit leaner this year in the hopes that
this will benefit my conditioning the next time I compete.

* FAQ's -

What do you do for your legs? I usually answer, probably less than
you do. Then I say, "Honestly, both my parents have good legs and
it's probably genetics".

Why do you want to get bigger? It's not that I want to get bigger
but the sport dictates that I have to in order to do better on
stage so I project more complete and full. Hopefully, I don't have
to get much bigger if changes come about in the sport. It also is
an issue of detail and quality that comes from training.

What do you want to do when you stop bodybuilding? I don't plan on
every stopping; however competing is another story. I plan on doing
this as long as it is fun and makes since. I feel pleasure knowing
that I am certain physical traits that allow me to do well at this.
I feel blessed to be able to train and know that I am healthy. As
long as my health, mind, and spirit stay sound I will continue to
stay the course of pounding the iron.

General training Schedule
Well, before i started training for a powerlifting meet i trained 3
times a week...my split was nothing unusual...something i put
together based on my schedule, and what i read from Big A, Phil,
and Doggcrapp. however, now that i have been training to compete in
powerlifting (more specifically deadlifting) my training schedule
has changed some. i am still training 3 times per week, but the
bodyparts are split up differently. this is what i currenty do:

Mon:
Chest: usually incline barbell or hammer strength for a set of 6-8
after warmups. then right to cable crossovers for 1 straight set of
12-20.
Delts: smith or barbell military press for around 8 reps, then
right to machine military press for 10-15 reps. i usually finish of
the workout with 1 or 2 pump up sets of dumbell laterals for
anywhere between 20-50 reps.
Triceps: usually close grip bench press on a decline bench. i bring
the bar down to between my belly button and rib cage and keep my
elbows in as close as possible to my body. this is followed by 2
sets of skull crushers. first is a straight set for around 8 reps,
followed by a drop set totalling 15-20 reps. i also like to do dips
when my shoulders are feeling good. i only do two exercises per
bodypart per workout though at max.

Tue or Wed: depending on my school and work schedules.
mainly rack deads, just above the knee. this is my sticking point.
Big_Byrd52 has been helping me with my deadlifting so this is the
routine he gave me... full deads from the floor(no straps): 5
singles with approximately 80% of my max weight... increasing by 15-
20lbs/week. these are to work on form and to stay strong off the
floor. i take 2 min. rest between each single. then on to rack
pulls...i work up to a max triple. i'll do usually 3 sets of 5 reps
increasing weight each set, then one set of 3, then go for my max
triple. after rack pulls i am usually gone as far as energy goes,
so i will take around 10 min. rest, drink some watered down
lemonade, then do one more exercise. this is usually either bent
over dumbell rows, or rack pulls behind the head (doggcrapp style).

Fri:
Usually if i was not training for this meet, i would do barbell
squats. but i am trying to give my lower back as much recovery time
as possible so i have been doing hack squats. i always keep my feet
close together.
to train my hamstrings i would normally do stiff leg deads with
dumbells...but again, i am trying to give my lower back the most
recovery time possible so i have been doing a lot of legs curls,
either seated or laying. calves, well...you know...some people have
them and some people dont.LOL i have not seen any significant
growth in them really, although in the past 8 or so months people
have said they seem to be getting bigger. i have been doing
something Big A said one time...it involves flexing them then
stretching them...i dont know if he was joking when he said it, but
i get sore every time from doing it so i guess they're working.LOL

General Nutrition Outline
i get 400-450g protien per day
around 500g carbs
and dont count my fats but it's not much

i love trueprotien.com and i use them exclusively for shakes! being
in school it is hard to cook all my meals so i rely mosty on
shakes. i take in 5-7 shakes per day. some of these are drank with
meals, others alone. i also eat a lot of low fat cottage cheese. i
love pizza...bbq chicken has become my most recent favorite! gimme
a large bbq chicken pizza and a 2 liter of orange pop and i'm good
to go.

other than that, i read what guys on here have written. i cannot
tell you how many hours i have searched the posts of Big A, Xcel,
DC, Massive G, Skip, Wyde, Lats, Jethro, Vander, Big Heinz, Jerry,
and some others. what i try to do is immulate those i want to be
like. i will take to positives from others people's lives and apply
them to my own. i also look for mistakes that others have made and
try not to make them myself. other than that, i try to be
consistent in training and eating correctly and enjoy life.

LilSavage is a relatively new member here but hit our board with a
BANG! His back pics have got to be some of the best ones posted
here. He's also willing to share info with others. Good luck to him
in the future.

Well, 2005 was my first year competing and I have a 1st place in
the MW's open Div. and 2nd place overall in an NPC contest. I plan
on competeting for as long as I can, and my next show will
hopefully be the L.A.

Well, this is really my first "Offseason", so as of right now I am
following Ironman's H.I.T. When I did not have an offseason mytraining stayed the same pretty much all the time, switching some
exercises every few weeks. I trained w/ a 2 on 1 off schedule
starting off w/ back and ending w/ legs.

Well, before my first show, I would always worry about having "ABS"
and I never broke 200lbs. That really hindered my gains IMO, now
that I am not afraid of eating I am the heaviest, not the
prettiest I have ever been weighing between 225 - 230lbs. As of
right now I am getting atleast 400 grams of protein by way of
eggwhites, top sirloin, fish, ground beef and turkey. All my carb
sources come from brown rice, oats, and sweet potatoes and I don't
really stress on how much carbs I eat right now, as I eat carbs w/
every meal. I get all my fats from anpb, olive oil, and from the
meats and eggs.

*Pre-contest*

As far as nutrition goes, I did'nt know a thing. So, I was a
internet whore looking for diets and getting confused listening to
a whole bunch of people. This coming yr I have help , and very
interested as for what she has in store for me, I will keep you
guy's posted.

For my 1st show I started my diet 8 weeks out, just because I was
fairly lean.

I cycled my carbs, 1 low, 1 med, and 1 high carb day up to 400
grams. My low day would be next to nothing w/ high protein and high
fat. Medium day would be my body weight, with lowered fats, and
high protein. High carb day I would atleast get my bodyweight inprotein and 400 grams carbs and no fats. In the end I was
frustrated cause my legs held alot of water, maybe I will start
cardio 6 weeks out instead of 4.

* Q and A*

1.) How much do I bench?

-Funny thing is I don't have a big bench, so I just tell them I
havent maxed in a while.

A: I train 4-5 days per week for no longer than 60-75 minutes per
session.

Q: What can I take to get ripped?

A: There is nothing you can take to get ripped without a strict
diet and cardio regimen for and extended period of time. Higher the
bodyfat, the longer it needs to be. No magic pills that substitue
for hard work.

Simone (and her husband Kaiser) are relative new to our community.
She is an active contributor and a very sharing person.

I started training in 92 and was lucky to be able to hire a
professional trainer to get me adapted to the gym and to learn
proper form. I stayed focused with their help and motivation and
reached the goals that I have set for myself. I do not train to
compete; I train because I love the sport and I want to stay
healthy and young looking for as long as I can. I am 5â, 105 and I
am 41.

DAY 1 - Gluts and Hamstrings - Cardio for 30 minutes 4 exercises
per body part, 3-4 set for 12 reps (same for all body parts)

DAY 2 - Back and Biceps

DAY 3 - Shoulders â Cardio for 30 minutes

DAY 4 - Chest and Triceps

DAY 5 - Full Leg Workout â 30 minutes of cardio

Favorite Body Part to train is Back, I hate doing legs but for a
woman we have to really focus on this area!!!

DIET: My diet really doesnât change much; I pretty much eat the
same way throughout the year. My favorite reference book is The
Metabolic Diet, this is my Bible.

BREAKFAST â I either eat a cup of Oatmeal or Cream of Wheat with
fresh berries or 2 scrambled egg whites with a side of fruit.

SNACK â Fat free low carb Yogurt

LUNCH â Mixed green salad w/ a can of Tuna in water or 6 ozâs of
grilled chicken. I like o/v on my salad.

SNACK - Handful of Almonds or Walnuts

DINNER - 6-8 Ounces of protein either red meat, chicken or fish (I
use a lot of spices to make my food flavorful)
1 cup of a green Veggie preferably spinach or broccoli
Mixed green salad with o/v

SNACK - Sugar Free Jell-O (satisfies the craving for sweets)

WEEKENDS â I eat less fat/protein and I carb load, then Sunday
night itâs back to business.

When I really need to get strict my food scale comes out, I measure
and keep a journal of everything that I eat. This gets me back on
track and I can see where I need to be as far as my caloric intake,
which I will fluctuate to shock my system.

b-boy has been an upstanding member of this board. He competes at
the national level and is a good board contributor.

training - I switch between DC training and a high volume training
offseason, DC training is the traditional breakdown of chest,
shoulders, backthickness, backwidth, and triceps on one day and
biceps, forearms, hamstrings, and quads on the next.. workouts are
mon. wed. and fri. When I switch to high volume my workouts are
mon.- chest and tri's, tue. - back and bi's, wed. - off, thurs. -
shoulders and traps, calves, fri. - legs.

High volume training is usually 4 sets of 12 reps with 30 seconds
rest between sets. Precontest training is strictly high volume now.

Diet offseason consist mainly of high protein (500 grams) with my
carbs pretty much being all i can eat with a carb cutoff after
6:00pm. precontest I mainly keep my protein high and use a carb
rotation of high, med., low carbs. fat is kept pretty low.

Questions I regularly get are.
(1) What do you do for back? I get this question alot, as my back
is my standout bodypart. I don't do anything differently than
anyone else, I think my back is mostly genetic, I did do a lot of
bent rows and pullups in my early days of bodybuilding.

(2) How much do you bench? Ha, I usually tell someone how much I
squat and deadlift when someone ask me that silly question, as
those two lifts, not a lot of regular gym guys do! and I think a
big squat and deadlift is more impressive than a big bench.

(3) How did you get so big? Plain and simple FOOD! everyone is
wanting some magic drug answer to this question, and are always
dissapointed when i say food..LOL Then they look at me like I'm
lying to them and they say well I eat a lot, so then I ask well
what did you eat yesterday? and when I compare that to what I ate,
even the biggest guys are like "no way i could eat that much". TO
BE BIG YOU GOT TO EAT BIG!

First, I would like to sincerely thank Big A, Xcel and all the
Professional Muscle members, sponsors etc. I am very appreciative
and consider it an honor just to be nominated, let alone selected
as the featured member. Thanks to all!

training history:
I have been training for nearly 20 years consistently. Started
around the age of 11 or 12 and I am 32 now. I will confess to not
knowing what I was doing for at least half of that and still have a
lot to learn ï I just have always loved to trainâ¦and likely always
will. Why? Cant really explain it, its in my blood.

Workouts: Like to get in and get out, Generally 3 exercises for
each bodypart for a maximum of 9 sets. train as heavy as I can in
the 6-12 rep range. Slightly higher 12-20 for leg movements. My
split was as follows:
Mon: Quads, Ham, and Calves
Tues: Chest, Tris, and Abs
Wed: Quads, Hams, and Calves
Thur: Back, Bis, Abs
Fri: Quads, Hams, and Calves
Sat: Shoulders, Traps, and Abs
Sun: OFF
Cardio: 40 min a.m. empty stomach alternating treadmill or bike

Off-season training:
Am currently training as per the recommendations of Phil Hernon and
really honestly feel I am benefiting from it. I am not comfortable
revealing too much about it but I suppose the split wouldnât be too
much. I am sure most are familiar with his theories and training
ideology.

Some Common Questions (taken from former interviews that went
unpublished)

Who has influenced your life and bodybuilding career?

I am fortunate to have benefited from the influence of many people
who have been very important contributors to who Sebastian Zona is
as a person and competitor. First and foremost would be my Wife,
Amy and Son, Sammy. They are the absolute best most genuine and
positive people I have ever been around in my life. My wife is
probably the single most mentally tough individual I have ever met.
It is safe to say that without their support and approval I would
not still be competing. My parents obviously were a huge influence
on establishing my core fundamental values and work ethic.
Conducting yourself with pride, honor, integrity and also putting
full effort into anything you are a part of was ingrained in me at
a very young age. I thank them for it. Also my former
teacher/football coach Wayne T. Carroll was a huge positive source
of constant encouragement for me and really showed me and taught me
a lot about not only training hard but also integrity, commitment
and a my development of ânever say dieâ attitude. Also good
friends Jeramy &amp; Kim Freeman, Ronnie Talomie, George Farah, Bob
Chic, Friends at Muscletech and many others who have been constant
sources of knowledge, support and encouragement. Anyone who thinks
bodybuilding is a solo effort has a lot to learn. Most recently I
would like to thank Phil Hernon for his knowledge and guidance that
I have benefited from.

Obviously in the sport of competitive bodybuilding, Ronnie Coleman
is head, shoulders, back, arms and legs above the competition.
There is no question there. But the BEST bodybuilder in the world
is probably someone we donât even know...the person who did the
most with the least, who goes unrecognized for their efforts yet
continues to toil away in anonymity.

You have quite a lengthy competitive resume and given that, I think
it would be safe to assume you your goal is to turn pro. What if
that never happens?

Yes, I have been competed every year (sometimes more than once)
since 1997. I think in that time I have done like 9 pro qualifiers
(I am starting to lose track) ï. There is a very real possibility
that I wont turn pro. In fact the odds are very much against me.
Itâs a good thing I donât believe in nor pay attention to that kind
of thingâ¦..at least as they apply to me. LOL! Its not the first
time I have been in a situation that others interpreted as hopeless
or impossible. I have this problem with quitting or giving up. I
simply donât know how to do it. I have always been a firm believer
that hard work, consistency and perseverance always pay off in the
end. I do not have the best genetics, my budget and available time
to dedicate to this endeavor is very limited, I am getting older,
the odds are against me, and my competition is the best amateurs in
the country. LOL! That being said my work ethic, self-
discipline, belief in myself and the positive people I surround
myself with will not allow me to fail. Some may call me a fool,
but I am not throwing in the towel just yet. I have come too far
and worked too hard!